I just came back from three straight days of watching clinics with top US riders. I watched every clinic that involved jumping. Some were hunter/jumper and some were for eventers. The first part of all them involved warming the horses up and getting them responsive to their rider's legs. In ALL cases, they used dressage. Shoulder-fore, haunches-in, leg yield and counter canter. With the more advanced riders, they even did canter pirouettes. By far the most effective riders were the ones with strong dressage backgrounds. They were able to rate their horse's speed between the fences, adjust stride when necessary and could stop on a dime. The riders who could barely do a leg yeild struggled most of the time once they moved onto jumping. For those of you who still think jumping is just pointing a horse at a fence, please attend a clinic or watch a lesson with an advanced rider. It really is all about dressage.

agreed. I dont seperate my flat work/ warm up routine from what I would call dressage, because thats exactly what it is. One of the best trainers I had wouldnt even let us attempt to jump, let alone canter, untill we could master basic movements in the w/t. Doesnt dressage translate into "training" or something like that in english?

I agree- when I'm riding, if we have any problems- no matter how small- they are magnified when we begin to jump. When you see people who only jump and do the minimal amount of flatwork/dressage, most of the time they don't have a good level of control over their horses and aren't as effective as riders who focus on good basics and dressage.

Dressage Is Jumping With Speed Bumps - and I am always telling people that GP horses know minimally level 3 dressage, and GP Riders only jump once a week - because Dressage is the most important aspect of riding.

I take pride in knowing I ride Nelson 5 days a week doing dressage. I'm working on my other riding friends at the barn, I am hoping to convince them of the same thing - eventually.

Chance use to rush jumps and practically crash through them, ever since I started working A LOT on flat work and really getting her bending and working on nice circles and such she now can go over a jump at a nice rythmic canter and look NICE over them!

I have really found this true now that I'm eventing "hard core". If you don't have a good dressage how in the flippin world do you belive that you are going to go around a XC course?! Thanks for posting this!

Jumping a horse = Getting wings!Why live on the edge when you can jump off?- Greenwood Horse Trials Tee-Shirt

Ive been in arguements with jumpers who just jump , they always make fun of dressage riders, and ect. If im doing flat work over poles, and doing leg yeild, extended trot they think im doing dressage when really its just flat work

I have to agree with this. Even though I love jumping so much and fine flat work/dressage a pain at times it is still extreamly important. Looking back at it one of my first riding teachers was a dressage rider and told me that jumping is jump flat work with obstucles in the way. (not saying jumping is easy) and those riders that don't take time to pratice on the flat are usualy the ibes that struggle with jumping. If my horse isn't lisening to me went where jumping; the next time i ride i make sure to school her on the flat until she is really responding. ^^ Out of my two (only two in the winter sadly) rides a week one is strictly work on the flat and I usually get two or three jumping courses in on the other day I ride the rest is dressage.

You are amazingly brilliant!! It takes a very responsible, knowledgeable horse person to realize what you just realized. You can go no where in jumping unless you have a strong dressage base. Now that doesn't mean you have to be able to do canter pirouettes and that extremely high level stuff. But you need to know how to bend a horse around your leg, to collect and extend and shoulder-in, etc are always helpful. There is a girl at my barn who everyone is continually trying to tell this too. Her horse jsut turned 4, started jumping at 2. He has no dressage basis and she rides him once a week, in jump lessons. I wish she had your knowleadge.

Absolutely!! There is nothing more important for jumping then 1) learning how to be effective as a rider and 2) getting your horse fit/balanced/responsive. I've never understood people who jump who turn their noses up at Dressage. They will never be truly successful over fences without it. I'm not saying that dressage is the end all for me, but it's definitely a necessary means to an end.

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